Just days after Unibet reported record revenue of 5 million in the second quarter, it was announced Unibet will acquire iGame Holdings and its subsidiaries. The move will galvanize Unibet’s Nordic presence, and is expected to be complete near the end of the third quarter.
The iGame management team, including CEO Tommi Maijala, will stay with the company and are subject to retention agreements to execute the business plan for the next three years.
“Through this deal our customers will quickly see the benefits from our ability to improve the product offering. Our ability to accelerate the growth and development of the business will also provide new opportunities for our great team,” Maijala said.
“iGame brands are well known in their local markets and we see a lot of potential by combining our bigger scale, mobile, cross channel and product expertise with their local focus. As the majority of the iGame revenues come from casino, our joint plan is to keep a number of these brands as a complement to our existing brands, Unibet and Maria,” Henrik Tjarstrom, CEO of Unibet, said.
Meanwhile, the company has started to show signs of growth with the company’s poker revenues going up 12 percent in the second quarter of 2015 over last year’s second quarter.
In a conference call, Tjärnström said the second quarter has been a positive one for the whole group as Unibet reached an all-time revenue high.
This is the first growth for the company since it left the Microgaming poker network in December 2013 and unveiled their own platform, developed by Relax Gaming.
Unibet then employed a long-term strategy of targeting recreational players and beginners. Although that initially caused a revenue decline, the new number s show the plan may be working.
In the “Interim Report January – June 2015,” Unibet showed that the company’s poker operations have generated revenues for £1.9 million, compared to the £1.7 produced in the second quarter of 2014.
According to Unibet’s report, the second quarter of 2015 has been positive not only for poker, but for the company as a whole after reporting an all-time group revenue high of £80.5 million.
“The success of the marketing investments made in previous quarters, has also driven organic growth of more than 21% in gross winnings revenue in constant currencies, despite tough comparables from the successful World Cup in 2014. This has also resulted in all-time high in gross winnings revenue,” Tjärnström said. “Mobile revenues grew by 48 percent in GBP, 69 percent in constant currency. The growth in sports book turnover of more than 12 percent in GBP (over 27 percent in constant currency) and the all-time high in casino & games show the very strong underlying activity.”
